Often electronic content data do not consistently adhere to one standard on format, organization, and use in consistent software. For example, each individual content data creator may choose to save electronic content data in various formats including a variety of text formats, document formats, spread sheet formats, presentation formats, visual graphic formats (e.g. chart, graph, map, drawing, image formats), audio formats, multimedia (e.g. video formats) formats, and database formats. Even when content data is encoded using standards-based formats, such as xml, often many different schemas are used. This heterogeneous nature of the electronic content data can pose challenges when the various content need to be re-purposed, re-styled, searched, combined, transformed, rendered or otherwise processed. Existing solutions typically require a user to convert heterogeneous content to a specific format required for desired processing. In some cases, it is difficult for a user to determine both the specific content format and the content formatting application best suited for the desired processing. Many standard tools for format conversion operate at inconsistent semantic levels, or encode an inappropriate semantic level, potentially causing information needed to perform desired content management and/or electronic publishing functions, for example, to be lost. Therefore, there exists a need for a better way to process electronic content.